Ford Safari Rally Thursday Report

Ford kicks up the dust in Safari Rally opener
Ford Martini World Rally Team drivers Colin McRae and Petter Solberg lie
fourth and 10th respectively in Kenyaâ€™s Safari Rally after this afternoonâ€™s
short super competitive section at Jamhuri...

Ford kicks up the dust in Safari Rally opener

Ford Martini World Rally Team drivers Colin McRae and Petter Solberg lie
fourth and 10th respectively in Kenya’s Safari Rally after this afternoon’s
short super competitive section at Jamhuri Park, on the edge of Nairobi.
Driving a Ford Focus World Rally Car, McRae and co-driver Nicky Grist were
only 1.8 seconds behind leader Juha Kankkunen after the 2.4km test.
Solberg and co-driver Fred Gallagher in the second Martini-backed Focus
were 3.0 seconds behind Kankkunen.

The prospect of seeing the world’s best drivers racing head-to-head over
the dusty parkland track drew an enthusiastic gathering of locals to see
the opening of this third round of the FIA World Rally Championship, held
in baking hot temperatures.

News from our Rivals

Finland’s Juha Kankkunen (Subaru) celebrated becoming the world’s most
experienced rally driver by leading on this his 130th World Championship
Rally. He was 1.0 second ahead of team-mate Richard Burns with Carlos
Sainz (Toyota) in third. Behind McRae came Piero Liatti (SEAT) and Toyota
team-mates Didier Auriol and Ian Duncan. World Championship leader Tommi
Mäkinen was 12th. Only 3.9 seconds covered the top 12 cars.

Tomorrow’s Route

Drivers head south out of Nairobi to tackle four competitive sections based
around the town of Kajiado. It will be a typical Safari day - long dusty
sections, two of which total over 110km, and a mixture of wide, smooth
high-speed roads contrasting with badly rutted sections, littered with
rocky washaways which slow the cars to first gear at times. Competitors
leave Nairobi at 09.00, returning at 19.30 after 347km of competitive
driving in a total route of 764km.

Key Stage

Nicky Grist: “The middle two competitive sections are the shortest of the
day but likely to be the most troublesome because there are plenty of loose
rocks and stones in the road. The third, from Olooloitikosh to Kajiado, is
a very grassy road with boulders just clearing the surface. If you hit one
of those it could easily rip a suspension strut off and there is obviously
a big possibility of punctures.”